Ignition device for explosive-engines.



Patented Jan. 29, 190|.

H. G. uNnERwoon.

IGNITION DEVICE FR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

(Application led Dec. 4111, 1899.) v

3 Shsets-Sheet l.

(No Model.) Y

u u u,

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No. 666,627. Patented 1an. 29,/s9ol.

H. G. UNDERWUD.

IGNITIN DEVICE FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES. (Application Sled Dec. 14, '1899.1 m6166661.) a sheets-sheet 2.

WITNESSES: INVENTOR TT'OR Patented 1an. 29, i901.

H. G. UNDERWDDD. IGNITION'DEVICE FOR EXP-LUSIVE ENGINES. (Application filed; Dec. 14, i899.) 'Nn Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 E VI/I/l//l/l/lvll//l/l//l/l/////////////////l///// b BY A ATTORNEY v UNITED STATES HERBERT GEORGE UNDERWOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY DIRECT AND MESN E ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE INTERNATIONAL POWER VEHICLE COMPANY, OF WEST VIRGINIA.

IGNITION DEVICE FOR EXPLOSlVE-ENGINES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 666,827, dated January 29, 1901.

Application filed December 14., 1899. v Serial No. 740.326. (No model.)

To ctZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT GEORGE U N- DERwooD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the borough of Manhattan, in the city, county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Explosive-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention has for its object to provide a simple construction of an explosive-engine containing in itself all the features essential for its operation and dispensing with the use of external devices for igniting the charge, and yet so constructed that it will run with great regularity and steadiness.

For the purposeV of accomplishing the objects above set forth my invention consists in the combination, constructions, and arrangement of the several parts of which it is composed, as will be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

Vhile the specific device shown in this application as embodying the several features of my invention is an engine using hydrocarbon oil as a fuel, it will be' understood that in its broader aspects my invention is n'ot limited by the characterof the explosive material supplied to the engine nor to the structural details in which the invention is embodied, although many of such details are` novel with me and will be made the basis of specific claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which corresponding parts are designated by corresponding marks of reference, Figure l is a central longitudinal section through the cylinder of an engine constructed in accordance with my invention. Eig. 2 is a plan View of my complete apparatus. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the fly-wheel side of the engine. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional View of the oil-injector. Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view showing the connection between the pump and injector. Fig. 6 is a detail perspective view, partly in section, of the jacket for the explosive-chamber and parts carried thereon.

The cylinder ct has attached to the forward end thereof the casing b, carrying the crankshaft c. The forward end of the connectingrod e is attached to the crank-shaft and its rear end is pivoted in the front end of the piston f, the latter passing through a guide g in the center. of a diaphragm h, located between the cylinder and casing and tightly closing the former, whereby air-pressure created therein is prevented from escaping from the casing at the bearings of the crank-shaft e, which has heretofore resulted in blowing out of the oil at the bearings.

The `pistonfcarries the head t' at its rear end, the forward end of the head being hollow, as at 7c, and has formed in the walls thereof the port Z, which when the piston is at lthe rearward limit of its movement registers with the port fm, communicating with the passages n, formed in the side walls of the cylinder, around the rear end thereof, an airpipe o letting into the said chamber on the side thereof diametrically opposite the port m, so that as the air is drawn into the cylinder by the vacuum formed therein on the rearward stroke of the piston it will absorb heat from the walls of the cylinder, which will be heated by the successive explosions. The air so drawn into the cylinder by the real'- ward stroke of the piston will be forced out of the forward end of the cylinder through the constantly-open passage p in the wall thereof andinto the air chamber or receiver q and then will flow through the port r in the cylinder and the port s in the piston-head when the latter have been caused to register by the forward stroke of the piston to the rear end of the cylinder. As shown in the drawings, the port s consists of two parts, one radial to the piston-head to register with the port r and the other axial with the cylinder, whereby the inflowing air is thrown rearwardly into the explosion chamber t and around the oil-injector u. The explosionchamber t is mounted on the rear end of the cylinder ct and communicates with the interior thereof, the central portion of the explosion-chamber being provided with a seat or supplemental cylinder c, in which a supplemental piston-head tu, carried as an extension on the rear end of the main piston-head, is adapted to enter.V `The explosion-chamber is also providedy with a series of annular walls as, surrounding the cylinder e and forming a IOO series of annular compartments all of which communicate with the supplemental cylinder f1; at their rearend through a passage 2, formed in the rear of the latter. Into these com partments and into the supplemental chamber the oil supplied by the oil-injector, mixed with the air entering through the port s, is thrown, this being due to the location of the latter port and to the location of the oil-supplying aperture 3 in the injector. When the ports fr and s have ceased to register, due to the forward movement ofthe piston, the air which has flowed into the rear end of the cylinder is compressed by the rearward motion of the piston-head, and finally as the piston-head is completing its motion in this direction the supplemental head w thereon closes the forward end of the supplemental cylinder o, which then contains an explosive mixture under high compression due to the initial travel of the piston-head. The mixture so contained in the supplemental cylinder is then further compressed by the final movement of the piston, the proportion of the parts being so adjusted that the mixture in the supplemental cylinder is put under a compression sufficient to cause the explosion thereof without the application of flame, and the flame from the explosion so produced in the supplemental cylinder is communicated through the passage 2 to the compressed mixture contained inthe com partment z, exploding it, whereby the piston will be driven forward. This forward motion of the piston, in addition to forcing the air from the forward end of the cylinder into the airreceiver, causes the momentary registration of the port 4 in the piston-head with the exhaust-port 5 in the cylinder, whereby the exploded products of combustion are permitted to escape. The port 4, like the port s, consists of a radial and an axial part and is so disposed that the port 5 upon the rearward motion of the piston-head is uncovered and then covered before the air-inlet ports r and s register. The ports 4 and 5 again momentarily register during the return rearward stroke of the piston; but by that time the exhaust-port 5 has been cleared to a greater or less extent of the products of combustion, so that no backward flow of the exploded gases into the cylinder, resulting from the decrease of pressure therein, occurs, and thus by this feature of my invention I assure an explosive mixture in the cylinder containing a minimum of inert gases resulting from the products of combustion of the previous charge. It will be thus seen that upon each forward motion of the piston air hows4 into the rear end of the cylinder, where it mixes with the oil simultaneously injected therein by any suitable means, the explosive mixture so formed being compressed and finally exploded by the motion of the piston, the forward end of the cylinder being/ placed, by the ports Z and m, incommunication with a supply of heated air, and that each forward motion of the piston produced by the explosion of the explosive mixture results in driving the air in the forward end of the cylinder into the receiver, whence it flows into the rear end of the cylinder on the completion of the forward stroke of the piston, the said stroke having previously opened and closed the exhaust. The forward stroke of the piston having imparted motion to the crankshaft, the momentum of the parts causes a repetition of the rearward motion of the piston to compress a new explosive charge admitted to the rear'end of the cylinder, as before, and this cycle of operations is repeated as long as the proper supply of oil is maintained.

The construction above described results in an explosion to each complete rotation of the crank-shaft and fly-wheel 6, and this combined with the certainty of the explosion occurring which follows from my construction permits me to use a small ily-wheel.

The explosion-chamber t is surrounded by a jacket 7, having apertures 8 therein, adapted to be closed by a revolving sleeve 9, pro-` vided with a handle l0 for moving it upon the jacket. In starting the engine the crankshaft is turned over by hand to compress an explosive charge in the rear of the cylinder and explosion-chamber, and a torch is then inserted into the jacket through one of the apertures 8 and the explosion-chamber heated to a sufficient temperature to ignite the charge, after which the cycle of operations will automatically follow as above described. The torch is then removed and the aperture 8 closed to maintain the temperature of the explosion-chamber at the point necessary to insure the ignition of the charge under the pressure to which itis subject in the supplemental cylinder. By opening the apertures S to a greater or less extent the temperature of the explosion-chamber may be controlled, and for this purpose and for securing a draft through the jacket when the apertures are opened I place the apertures therein at the top and bottom.

In Fig. 3 I have shown a convenient form of combined governor and oil-pump adapted for use with this invention.

The pump-body l1 is carried on the exterior of the cylinder a and has connected with its central bore an oil-supply pipe 12, leading to the oil-tank 13. The inlet of theL oilsupply pipe to the bore of the pump is controlled by a ball 14, normally pressed against its seat by a stem i5, actuated by a spring 16, the stem being reduced in diameter at the point 17, where it passes through the bore of the pump to permit the flow of oil past it under the driving action of the plunger 18 of the latter. The pump-bore also communicates, through the pipe I9, with the injector u, the communication between the two being controlled by a similar outlet-valve 20.

The pump-plunger is actuated by a rod 21 and a lever 22. This lever is actuated by a cam mechanism carried by the crank-shaft,

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and the amount of fuel fed by the pump is dependent upon the position of the cam upon the said shaft, which varies With the speed of the engine. It is not necessary to herein describe the details of such mechanism, as the same forms the subject-matter of an application filed by lne on the 25th day of April, 1900, as a division hereof and serially numbered 14,297.

The pipe 19, leadingfrom the pump, is connected to the injector u in the manner shown in Fig. 6, in which the injector-body has ears 39 upon the upper ends thereof, adapted to receive'bolts 40, passing through slotted and curved ears 4l upon a piece 42, carried on the end of thcoil-pipe. The piece 42 and injectorbody have each spherical seats 43 formed therein around the oilpassage,betvveen Which a perforated ball 44 is contained and held by the bolts 40. As shown in dotted lines in Fig. 5, this construction permits the parts to be connected up at different angles and insures a tight joint.

The oil-injector u has a central bore 45, in which is closely contained a sliding piston 46, normally pressed upwardly therein byaspiral spring 47, the piston having a central bore 48 extending from the upper end thereof and opening on one side near its lower end and adapted when the piston is forced down by the pressure of oil delivered by the pump to register with the aperture 3, through which the oil may escape into the cylinder of the engine. Upon the release of this pressure the piston is restored to normal position by the spring, thus cutting od the communication between the pump and the engine-cylinder. It will be noted that the oil-pump, being operated by the crank-shaft, operates in unison with the pistonf.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

l. In an explosive-engine, the combination with a cylinder, of an explosionbhamber at the end thereof containing a supplemental cylinder and a series of annular Walls, surrounding the said supplemental cylinder and forming a series of annular compartments, means for bringing a liquid hydrocarbon into contact with the said annular Walls, a piston moving in the cylinder and a supplemental piston mounted thereon and moving into the supplemental cylinder, substantially as described.

2. In an explosive-engine, the combination with a cylinder, of an explosion-chamber at the end thereof, containing a supplemental cylinder and a series of annular Walls, surrounding the said supplemental cylinder and forming a series of annular compartments, the supplemental cylinder and annular compartments being connected at their rear ends, means for bringing a liquid hydrocarbon into contact With the said annular Walls, a piston moving in the cylinder and a supplemental piston mounted thereon and moving into the supplemental cylinder, substantially as described. V

3. In an explosive-engine, the combination With a cylinder, of an explosion-chamber at the end thereof, containing a supplemental cylinder and a series of annular Walls, surrounding the said supplemental cylinder and forming a series of annular compartments, means for bringing a liquid hydrocarbon into contact with the said annular Walls, a piston moving in the cylinder, a port located in the piston and directing the infiowing air into the said compartments, and a supplemental piston' mounted thereon and moving into the supplemental cylinder, substantially as described.

4. In an explosive-engine, the combination With a cylinder, of a supplemental cylinder contained in the end thereof, means for creating an explosive charge in the two cylinders, a piston moving in the cylinder and adapted to compress the charge therein, a supplemental piston moving into the supplemental cylinder and compressing the charge therein to the pressure at which it .ignites Without the di rect contact of flame,an aperturedjacket surrounding the supplemental cylinder, and a rotating collar mounted on the jacket, and adapted to open and close the apertures therein, substantially as described.

5. In an explosive-engine, the combination with a cylinder, of an explosion-chamber at the end thereof, containing a supplemental cylinder and a series of annular Walls, surrounding the said supplemental cylinder and forming a series of annular compartments, means for bringing a liquid hydrocarbon into contact with the said annular Walls, a piston moving in the cylinder, a supplemental pistonv mounted thereon and moving into the supplemental cylinder, an apertured jacket surrounding t-he supplemental cylinder and compartments, and a rotating collar mounted on the jacket and adapted to open and close the apertures therein, substantially as described.

In testimony Whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of the two subscribing witnesses.

HERBERT GEORGE UNDERWOOD.

In presence of*- A, G. OLNEY, CLARENCE W. HATCH.

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